UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – After two weeks on the road, the No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions (10-3, 2-2 Big Ten) head back to Panzer Stadium in University Park, Pa. to welcome the Oregon Ducks (6-7, 0-5 Big Ten) on Thursday, April 9th at 8 p.m. for the team’s Big Ten Network season debut. The game against Oregon is the first of three straight games for Penn State in the friendly confines of Panzer Stadium.
On call for the Big Ten Network is Jason Knapp as the play-by-play with Abby Bosco as the color analyst.
LAST TIME OUT
Stellar performances from upperclassmen helped lead to a rout over the No. 25 Ohio State Buckeyes, 18-9.
Kelly MacKinney exploded on offense with a career-high seven goals and two assists on the afternoon. The last time a Penn State player netted seven goals was when Gretchen Gilmore did so against James Madison in the NCAA Tournament in 2024. Her seven goals are tied for the third-most by any Big Ten player this season and her nine points tied Delaney Radin for the most by any Nittany Lion this season and tied for the fifth-most by any Big Ten player this year.
Radin had another spectacular outing passing the ball, dishing out five assists and scoring a pair of goals as well. Radin secured her 40th assist of the season off Wainman’s first goal of the second quarter. She is the first Penn State player since Steph Lazo in 2017 to record at least 40 assists in a single-season. This was Radin’s third five-plus assist effort of the season and of her career. Her five assists are tied for the seventh-best by any Big Ten player in a single-game this season to go along with her conference leading eight assist effort and her six-assist game that is tied for second-most assists in a single-game this season by a Big Ten player.
Other big contributors on the offensive end were seniors Erika Ho and Payton Wainman with freshman Rocquette Allen. Ho secured her second hat trick of the season, her first since February while shooting at a 60% mark. Wainman extended her team lead in goals to 34 after her hat trick while also shooting an astounding 100%. Allen, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, notched a pair of goals and dished out four assists, a new career-high, for six points, tying her career-high.
Sydney Manning had an excellent night in the cage with 14 saves and a save percentage of 60.7%. Manning has registered double-digit saves for the fifth time this season and her 14 saves were her second-most in the 2026 campaign so far. Lilly Spilker shined on defense with five ground balls and three caused turnovers alongside Anna Salerno and Susannah O’Connell who each caused a pair of turnovers. Manning, Julia Basciano and Cailin Hetrick joined Spilker with multiple ground balls picked up.
B1G TIME ACCOLADES
After the dismantling of Ohio State, a trio of Nittany Lions earned conference and national recognition in the form of weekly awards. The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and the Big Ten Conference announced on Tuesday afternoon that MacKinney was named the IWLCA and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. This was her second Big Ten weekly award of her career along with her first national weekly honor. The IWLCA accolade is the first time that Penn State has earned the IWLCA Offensive Player of the Week since Kristin O’Neill was named to the award after helping take down No. 1 Northwestern in 2024.
In addition to MacKinney, Manning earned the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Allen was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. The award is Manning’s fourth Big Ten weekly accolade of her career, the first since 2024 when she was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
With her fifth accolade, Allen joins Madison Taylor, Izzy Scane, Megan Whittle, Madison Carter, Kali Hartshorn and Kristin O’Neill as the only Big Ten players to be named Freshman of the Week five or more times in a single season. All of them ended up winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
THE FRESHMAN PHENOM
In the game against the then-No. 3 and now No. 1 team in the country, Allen put on her best performance of the year. She netted five goals against what was the third-best scoring defense in the Big Ten while adding an assist. Against the formidable Maryland defense and the best goalkeeper in the nation, the freshman shot a spectacular 71.4% while being shadowed by the Terrapins’ top defender. Three of Allen’s five total goals, all three of which were unassisted, came in the last 20 minutes of the contest as the attacker was the driving force behind a ferocious comeback attempt by the Nittany Lions in the second half. Her five goal and six-point effort tied her career-high in both categories and was the most goals allowed and the second-most points against the Terrapins by any player this year.
In addition to her heroics, Allen scored what may be the goal of the year. During the fourth quarter comeback attempt, as she was falling with her back to the net, the freshman shot a no-look, behind the back goal for her fourth of the afternoon. The goal would eventually be featured as the number two play of the day on the SportsCenter Top 10.
Against a tough Ohio State defense, Allen netted a pair of goals to push her season total to 32, the second-highest by any Big Ten freshman and by any Penn State player. Her greatest contribution to the offense against the No. 25 Buckeyes was her ability to pass Penn State players open. Allen registered a career-high four assists on the afternoon with three of those contributing to Kelly MacKinney’s seven goal outing. The first assist by the freshman from Lone Tree, Colo., went to Delaney Radin in her seven-point game. The six points Allen tallied against the Buckeyes matched her effort against then-No. 3 Maryland last week and is the fourth time she has recorded six points during her freshman campaign. Her 47 total points are the third-most by any Nittany Lion and the most by any freshman in the Big Ten.
THE ASSIST QUEENS
In the most recent Tewaaraton Watch List additions, Radin was one of 13 players nationally to be named to the prestigious award’s watch list, joining Ho as the only other Penn State player on the list. Additionally, Radin was also recently named as an Inside Lacrosse Midseason All-America Honorable Mention She also earned her first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor, her first collegiate accolade.
In her electric start to the 2026 season, Radin has already set new single-season career-high for goals, assists, points, shots, shots on goal, free position shots and free position goals that she’s had in a single-season. Her 42 assists on the year have more than doubled her career assist total and her career point total with 60 points this season. The New York attacker has the most assists in the Big Ten, the seventh-most in Division I, while securing the sixth-most points by any Big Ten player and just outside the top-20 points in the NCAA.
Radin had a historic game dishing out the ball against Colgate. The junior attacker led the offensive effort with an astounding nine points and tied the program record with eight assists, a record originally set by Marsha Florio against Princeton in 1985. Her eight assists tied the NCAA single-game-high this season with Allison Reilly of Army West Point and Alexis Morton of Richmond. Radin has the two-highest single-game assist totals in the Big Ten this season alongside the first game of the year against Richmond, in which she had six assists.
MacKinney has followed closely behind the Florida transfer and had a more balanced approach to her success this season with 54% of her 59 points, the second-most by any Nittany Lion, coming from goals while also setting a new single-season high in goals and points for herself. Even though she’s been able to cash in more than in years past, MacKinney still remains a passing threat and sees the field extremely well. The junior has set new personal single-game highs in goals, points and free position goals. Twice this season, against Colgate and in the team’s Big Ten opener at Southern California, MacKinney has tallied four goals and four assists in a single game. The New Jersey attacker has the eighth-most assists in Penn State history with 89 and recently joined the 100-point club against Bucknell.
The combination of Radin and MacKinney have been one of the best duos in the nation. Through 13 games, the duo has combined for 69 assists and 119 points, the most assists by any pairing in the country and one of the highest point totals, along with 50 goals.
THE CAGE REPORT
Manning has been on a tear recently as the Nittany Lions’ primary goalkeeper, recently surpassing 300 career saves after her performance against No. 6 Michigan. Against the Wolverines, Manning registered 11 saves and against No. 19 Princeton, she notched a career-high 15 saves. The 15 saves she recorded is tied for the fourth-most in the Big Ten this season and the most by any Nittany Lion since Ashley Bowan’s performance against Johns Hopkins in 2023.
Manning played lights out against No. 25 Ohio State and earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for it. The Pennsylvanian goalie faced a career-high 39 shots against the Buckeyes and tallied 14 saves, a new career-best against a conference opponent. Her 14 saves were one of the most by Big Ten goalie during the week and had a 60.9% save percentage. Manning was excellent against free position attempts, being credited for a save and only allowing one past her on five opportunities. Additionally, the junior picked up a pair of ground balls in the effort.
As of April 6th, Manning checks in with the fourth-best save percentage in the country, second in the Big Ten. The junior Big Ten Player to Watch is second in the Big Ten in goals allowed per game and just outside the top-20 nationally while being ranked third in the conference in total saves and saves per game, respectively.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Oregon waddles into the Thursday night match up after falling to Johns Hopkins in Eugene and are currently on a five-game losing streak. Two-time Big Ten Midfielder of the Week Anna Simmons leads the Ducks’ offense with 19 goals and 27 points along with fellow 20-point scorers Lilly Fortin, who leads the team in assists, Emma Ing and Gabby Santucci. Simmons also leads the Oregon defense with 21 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers. The Ducks have three others that have caused double-digit turnovers and seven that have secured ground balls in double-figures. Francesca Viteritti has gotten a majority of the minutes in the cage with 412:05 compared to Kate Shields’ 342:43. Viteritti has registered 44 saves with 87 goals against her on 181 shots faced for a .336 save mark and giving up 12.67 goals on average. Shields has tallied 52 saves and allowed 64 goals on 144 shots faced for a .448 save rate and averaging 11.20 goals allowed. The Ducks are helmed by Jessica Drummond along with assistant coaches Carolyn Carrera and Theo Kwas. Penn State and Oregon met once before that resulted in a dominant win for the Nittany Lions, 19-10.
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